Tarot cards are a deck of 78 cards. It is believed that they were invented about 5-7 centuries ago. Although in most cases such a deck is used for divination, in some countries the tradition of playing with them has been preserved.
If you still need these cards, it is best to choose a handmade tarot deck. This has a lot of merits. Such cards will be of much better quality, and you will be more pleasant to work with them.
Tarot is widely used in astrology, occultism, the study of magical influences, and alchemy. Specialists in this field have the skills to interpret the symbolism of cards and their combinations. What seems to be just pictures to the layman has a sacred meaning for the initiates.
Tarot: why are they named so?
The researchers found that the name of the deck comes from trump cards, which were otherwise called “triumphs”, or rather, carte da trionfi. Around 1530, the long name was replaced by the short Italian tarocchi, so as not to confuse the name of the deck itself with the usual trump cards.
In those days, Tarot cards were used as playing cards. Among tarologists, there is also an alternative assumption about the origin of the name of the deck of Tarot cards. Some are sure that it has become a derivative of the Arabic “turuk” or “tarak”, which means to throw.
The meaning of cards and layouts
Depending on the divination system, the interpretation of cards in different decks may vary.
Over the centuries of the formation of practice, soothsayers have developed many variations of layouts. By contacting them, one could get recommendations for success in the love sphere, work, health, personal development, building a family, and much more.
In a typical Tarot deck, there are 2 types of cards: major arcana and minor. The first have 22 cards and are considered “trump cards”. Each is decorated with a unique image and has a specific name.
There are 56 Minor Arcana cards in the deck, 14 of each of the 4 suits: Pentacles, Wands, Swords and Cups. In accordance with the style, the decks are divided into variations:
- Egyptian Tarot, which is based on the corresponding version.
- The Marseille Tarot is a French deck developed in France in the 17th and 18th centuries.
- Visconti Sforza – invented in the 15th century and named after the creators. It is considered the oldest of the modern complete decks.
- Rider-Waite, which appeared at the beginning of the 20th century. It was developed by a publisher and an artist whose names have remained for centuries.
- The Tarot of Thoth is a Kabbalistic card with esoteric symbolism created by Frieda Harris and Satanist Aleister Crowley.
How is tarot used?
So why do we need Tarot? What is their purpose? Today they are used as a divination system. According to some assumptions, such a deck has been used by soothsayers since the time of the Flood, but the first evidence of attempts to look into the future using the Tarot dates back to the 16th century.
In 1540, the book of the Italian Francesco Marcolini da Forli was published under the title “Divination by the Tarot”, which described the methods of divination using the deck. By the 17th century, the Tarot had become a divination system in a commonly accepted format.
Records dated 1700 have been found in Bologna. They explained the meanings of the cards and the essence of the procedure for implementing the alignment.
What is Tarot for?
Today they are considered one of the tools of meditation. For this purpose, the major arcana are usually used. The practice is aimed at understanding and perceiving the deep meaning of the current situation.
When conducting the alignment, the fortuneteller plunges into the meanings of the images and builds an internal dialogue with the characters depicted on the cards. As a result, an answer is born and an additional resource appears for the implementation of the plan.